


episodic

by steamedmantou



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 05:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steamedmantou/pseuds/steamedmantou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>drabbles and ficbits, unconnected.  examples: sakurai and his eternal dilemma of having to feed aomine; midorima and takao vs. a kite eating tree; momoi and coping with inconsiderate childhood friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. divide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one wonders if sakurai ever has enough to eat for lunch.

            "Sakurai!" Wakamatsu roars, after Aomine ravaged Sakurai's bentou yet again and ran off in the aftermath.  "Stop letting him take your food!"

            "B-b-but it's fine," Sakurai stutters.  "I'm happy that someone else likes my cooking, and besides, I've been making a little extra lately..."

            Wakamatsu sighs.  "Doesn't it piss you off that he's always mooching off you?"

            "Eh?  Well, it's not a lot of trouble..."

            "Man, and you ended up in the same class as that idiot again this year," Wakamatsu says.  "Listen, Sakurai.  Stop giving him food!  What the hell are you going to eat if he eats your lunch every day?"

            Maybe, Sakurai thinks, he should start bringing two bentous to school.

-

            "Ryou, why are you making three bentous these days?" his younger sister asks, staring at the extra lunch box on the kitchen counter.

            Sakurai swallows a sigh and does not say that he wishes she would address him properly as a younger sibling ought to.  Instead, he tells her, "It’s for a classmate."

            "Who?"

            "Aomine-san."

            "Oh, that guy on your basketball team?  Why are you making him food?"

            "Um..."

            "Is he picking on you?"

            "Uh, no—”

            "Geez, Ryou," she says.  "It's not like he's paying you to make him lunch.  If you don't want to do it, don't do it!  Have a backbone!  Don't let him walk all over you!"

            Sakurai nods meekly and packs the two lunches anyway.

-

            Wakamatsu and his sister were right, Sakurai decides one day.  Why was he making lunch for Aomine?  That guy never did anything for him!  So one day, Sakurai makes only enough for himself and decides to stand his ground.

            "Yo, Ryou," Aomine says, at lunch.  "What'd you make today?"

            "There's only enough for one person!"  Sakurai exclaims in a rush, running out of breath mid-sentence, the declaration ending in a strangled whisper.  He sits there in a cold sweat, hating how pathetic he sounded, how spineless he was.  He couldn't even tell Aomine outright 'I didn't make anything for you today.'

            "Oh yeah?"  Aomine says.  Sakurai quivers in his seat.

            Aomine swings a plastic bag up on the desk.  "No big deal.  I bought bread today.  Here," he says, tossing two buns at Sakurai, who barely catches them.  "I got these for you," Aomine says.  Sakurai looks wide-eyed at the melon bread shaped like a turtle and anpan with a bear's face drawn on it.  "You like this kind of stuff, right?"

            Sakurai is so startled he nearly forgets to stammer, “T-thank you.”

            "Yeah so, thanks for all the food, I guess," Aomine says, rubbing the back of his neck.  "It's really good."

            "Ah, thank y—I mean, you're, uh, welcome," Sakurai says, looking away nervously.

            Aomine grins.  "Make some karaage tomorrow, okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first completed/posted on tumblr: march 22, 2013  
> first revised: july 14, 2013


	2. kite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kites and trees are not the best of friends.

            “Is that a—” Takao says.

            “Yes,” Midorima interrupts.  “Today’s lucky item is a kite.”

            “On a day like this?”  Takao asks.  “Y’sure Oha Asa isn’t wrong about this?”

            “I have no reason to doubt it,” Midorima says.

            “Shin-chan,” Takao says.  “There are _50 kilometers per hour winds_ today.”

            “Irrelevant,” Midorima says.

            “Are you forgetting that kites are made to be _flown in the wind_?”  Takao asks.  “Your kite might be blown away at any moment.”

            “Unlikely,” Midorima says, pushing away his fringe where the wind had thrown it into disarray.  “A little wind never hurt anybody.”

            “Aha!  You can’t tell me that the wind isn’t bothering you!”  Takao shouts, over a particularly forceful gust of wind.

            “Just be quiet and keep walking,” Midorima says, narrowing his eyes.

            “Your eyes are tearing up.  Tearing up!”

            “They are not.”

            “They totally are!”

            “Stop blathering and continue walking!”  Midorima yells.  “We are never going to make it in time for weekend practice if we keep dawdling at this pace!”

            Right at that moment a violent gale tears the bright orange kite out of Midorima’s hand.

             “What did I tell you!”  Takao shouts, watching it fly off.

            “Shut up, Takao!”  Midorima shouts back, over the roar of the wind.

            The kite does not drift far, tangling itself within the branches of a nearby tree.  Its proximity draws a sigh of relief from the two of them, but on the other hand – the kite was stuck in a tree.

            “You still sure that Oha Asa was right about this one?”  Takao asks.

            “Stop talking, Takao,” Midorima says, picking up stones from the ground.

            “What are you doing?”

            “I am going to retrieve my kite,” Midorima says, lobbing one of the pebbles up at the tree.  It lands amongst the violently ruffling foliage with barely a whimper.

            Takao scoffs and laughs.  “You’re not going to knock the kite out of the tree with a puny rock.”

            “You’re right,” Midorima says.  He reaches for a larger object.

            “Hey!  That’s my bag!”

            “This sufficiently hefty object ought to suffice.”

            “Don’t throw my bag at a tree!  Hey, Shin-chan!  Are you listening?”

            Midorima shoots the gym bag at the tree.

            Takao jumps and catches it midair.  “Dammit!  Look, I know your stupid kite is stuck, but there are better ways to get it back!”  He runs under the tree and points up at the kite’s string, swaying in the wind.  “Grab it here!”

            “I understand.  Takao, bend over.”

            “What?”

            “You are going to give me a boost.  Come on, crouch.”

            “What the hell?  Shouldn’t that be the other way around?  You’re gonna kill me!”

            Midorima gets a leg up on Takao’s shoulders despite his protests and reaches for the kite.  Just as Midorima grabs it by the string an adjacent, much _larger_ tree topples over and lands on the tree they are standing under, shaking a flurry of leaves loose, falling over them in a shower of green.

            They both fall to the ground and gape as the tree shudders under the weight of the larger tree.  Only when the branches of the smaller tree stop wobbling do they exhale in relief.

            In the ensuing moment of silence, they make eye contact, acknowledging without words their unbelievable fortune.           

            “…What did I tell you?”  Midorima says, the first to remember words.  “A kite is today’s lucky item!”

            “Don’t act so tough!”  Takao says, pointing a shaking hand.  “You’re trembling!  I can see it!”

            “I am not,” Midorima says, getting to his feet, holding his rescued kite with a much tighter grip.

            “We wouldn’t even have had a near death experience if you didn’t have that stupid kite anyway!”

            “Shut _up_ ,” Midorima growls.  “Let’s just get to practice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first completed/posted on tumblr: april 21, 2013  
> first revised: july 14, 2013


	3. wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hyuuga doesn't want to see kiyoshi at practice.

            In their third year, Hyuuga forbids Kiyoshi from attending practices.  You need absolute rest and that means no physical exertion whatsoever! Hyuuga lectures, and while you're at it, do some studying!  We're in third year and we'll be dealing with entrance exams soon.  Besides, we'll be busy practicing and we won't have _any_ time to coddle and entertain you!  And, Hyuuga promises Kiyoshi, I will personally throw you out if I see you lurking around the gym.

            What Hyuuga thinks is, You're gonna show up with that stupid look on your face, goofing around on the sidelines.  You'll be acting like nothing's wrong.  But there'll be the slightest furrow in your brows, and a restless twitch in your fingers.  I know you want to play, but you can't.  There's no way any of us will let you mess up your knee further.  So all you’d be able to do is watch.  And I don't want to see you waiting around like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first completed/posted on tumblr: april 26, 2013


	4. cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> momoi tries to steer aomine towards seeing the significance of an upcoming day.

            Momoi always fancied herself as a teacher of sorts to Aomine, and the role of a teacher was to guide rather than to provide all the answers.  So when May rolled around she strongly hinted at the importance of a particular day on the first weekend of the month.  It was clear one reminder wouldn't be enough to penetrate his thick skull, so Momoi continued to drop hints throughout the week – showing him ads for luxury bath sets, images of premium stationery, and links to websites reviewing popular neighbourhood bakeries.

            Early Saturday morning Aomine called her out, saying he needed help with something.  Momoi sprung out the door, with high hopes that her tips had paid off.  She met up with him at the edges of the neighbourhood shopping district.  There, she stared quizzically at the bouquet of pink carnations in his hands.

            "What's that?" Momoi asked, carefully neutral.

            "Flowers," Aomine said, flatly.

            "I can see that."

            "So, uh," Aomine said, long-suffering, "the store ran out of red carnations today... would pink work?"

            "May I ask why you got carnations?" Momoi asked.

            "Why?  Because it's Mother's Day..."

            "No, you turd!" Momoi shouted.

            "Turd?!" Aomine said, affronted.

            "Mother's Day is next weekend!" 

            "Then why were you making such a big deal about _this_ weekend?"

            "Today's my _birthday_!" Momoi yelled.

            "Well, why didn't you just say so?!" Aomine yelled back.

            "I'm not supposed to have to tell you when my birthday is!  That's not how it works!"  Momoi felt hot, angry tears welling up in her eyes.  She regretted having expected anything from him.

            "Man, how am I supposed to remember these things if you don't tell me right out?"

            "I always remember _your_ birthday!" Momoi said, letting the tears spill out.

            "That's—you _know_ I'm bad with dates,” Aomine said, uncomfortably averting his gaze.  “Sorry, okay… Stop crying!”

            "You are the _worst_ friend I've ever had." Momoi said, sniffling.

            Aomine sighed, looking guilty.  "Okay, I'll—I'll buy you food.  Please stop crying."

            "You're buying me lunch," Momoi said, rubbing her eyes.

            "Fine."

            "At that 'cute girly cafe' you never agree to go to."

            "...Fine."

            "And you're buying me cake afterwards."

            "A _whole_ cake?!"

            " _Yes_."

            "Are you gonna eat the whole thing by yourself?" Aomine asked.  He opened his mouth to say something else, but shut it.

            "Maybe I will," Momoi said, defensive.  Her eyes lit up with a sudden idea.  "Oh, maybe I can invite Tetsu-kun over!"

            "Y'sure there's gonna be cake left for anyone else?" Aomine muttered.

            "Well, _you_ won't be getting any," Momoi said.

            Aomine looked at the flowers he was holding.  "What do I do with these?"

            Eyes finally dry, Momoi grabbed the carnations and grinned.  " _I'm_ keeping them."

            “Whatever,” Aomine said.  “But that’s _all_ you’re getting, okay?  Flowers, lunch—”

            “And a cake,” Momoi cut in.

            “And a cake!” Aomine repeated, exasperated.

            Momoi nodded.  “That is acceptable.”

            Aomine sighed again.  “So you gonna show me where this place is or not?”

            Momoi bounded ahead, leading the way.  Walking a good distance ahead of Aomine, she almost didn’t hear him mumble, “Happy birthday, Satsuki.”  Momoi pretended she didn’t hear him and decided to refrain from ordering the most expensive items on the menu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first completed/posted on tumblr: may 4, 2013 (for momoi's birthday)  
> first revised: july 14, 2013
> 
> wikipedia and a google search tells me that in japan, it's traditional to give red carnations as a mother's day present.


End file.
